Pocket lighter



H. S. STRAUSSER ET AL Mmh 7, 1933.

POCKET LIGHTER Filed Nov. '27, 1929 2 sheets-sheet l -jade72/Orf T e/bev 5.517%@51 @j @urz TKG Loki,

` Mardi 7, 1933- H. s. sTRAUssl-:R ET AL POCKET LIGHTER Filed Nov. 27, 1929 sheets-sheet A2 vin which Patented Mar. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PA'rrsrr, OFFICE I HERBERT 8. STRAUSSEB, 0F CHICAGO, ANIDHENBY T. REYNOLDS, OF IQHBABD, ILLI- NOIS, ASSIGNOBS T0 OTIS MANUFACTURING C0., 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPO- BATION 0F ILLINOIS rocxn'r mainm- .Application ma november '31, 1m. .Y sena-ino. noms.

This invention relates to improvements characterized by greater ease of manipulation and certainty of ignition.`

A further object of the invention is to pro-l vide a manually operated bar or lever connected `with the friction wheel through an intermediate arrangement of gearing includf ing aclutch, whereby the rotation imparted to the friction wheel isproportionally greater than the .arc transversed by the operating `lever, thereby insuring increased frictional contact with the pyrophoric element and a corresponding increased volume of spark,.the

clutch functioning in the meantime to eiect.

the rotation of the friction wheel in but one direction. e

A preferred embodiment of our invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved lighter;

Figure 2 is a view in vertical section through the lighter;

Figure 3 is a view in cross-section taken on line 3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is afperspective view of the top portion of the lighter stripped of all removable parts including the ignition mechanism; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the side plates completing the housing for the ignition mechanism;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the top cover plate removed;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the vtwo intermediate gear members with coacting clutch plates;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the snufer bar: and

Figure 9 is a view in side elevation of the althoug as lfollows :v

at both ends forms the body of the casing.

in section an'd the'snu er-bar in open-position'.

The lighter herein disclosed is of the typev having a thin rectangular shaped 'casing 1 rof a convenient size to fit theJY pocket, and the mechanism assembled at one en'd, the fuel casing may be lof other shapes, as for instance, Ain desk or table lighters. 'The casing contains the 'usual fill'- ing of cotton and wick W, the latter having lightin upper part of the li hter showing portions one end projecting fromawick standard`3 mounted at one end of the casing.

The casin 1 is made up of several parts, ilat shell 1a of thin metal open A somewhat thicker bottoml plate 2 is fitted and soldered into the lower end of said shell. In the vbottom plate 2 are openin closed by screw plugs 4 and 5 aving flat discs with milled edges, which 'seat flush in shallow rs; in said. bottom plate. One of these openings is closed by the lug 4 communicating with the interior of'tllie casing and serves for filling the same with fuel. The o nin closed by plug 5 is'the lower end o a tu and` containing. the pyrophoric elebearing endwise against the friction wheel 8, presently to be described, and backed by a coil spring 9 bearing` at its lower end against the closure plug 5.

Into the upper end of the shell 1a is fitted a plate 10 seating a short distance below theA recess or cavity extending across the top endof the ca sing. At one end of the plate 10 is mounted the wick standard 3, already mentioned, the Asame comprising a tube 3a projecting ashort distance above the plate and retaining a smaller and endwise adjustable tube 3b through which the end of the wick W passes,.as shown in Figure 2. Just inwardly from the wick standard 3 is the upper end of the tube 6 which also passes through the plate 10 and terminates above the same at about the level of the wick standard.

Extending' above and transversely across the upper end lof the fuel casing is a rectangular housing 11, consisting primarily oftwo upstanding webs 12, 12 integral .with upper normally end plate 10, and extending in parallel relation along the side edges of the casing. In the space between these webs are mounted the seyeral rotating arts of the ignition mechanism, thewebs orming a supporting frame for the pivot pins on which these l parts are journalled including the friction wheel 8 adjacent the wick standard. By preference, a pair of anged side plates 13, 10 13 are mounted exterior the webs 12, 12, concealing the moving parts and giving the lighter a more nished appearance. Extendin across the top of the housing 11 is the' snu er bar 14.-, having fiat heads at l5 either end projecting beyond the ends of the housing. The head 14a at the end adjacent the wick standard has a depending sleeve 140 open at its lower end and forming a cap seating over the wick end and around the base of the wick standard when said snuier bar is in closed position. The head 14? at the opposite end of the bar is the operatin lever or button which is pressed down y the thumb or finger to actuate the ignitin mechanjsm and simultaneously uncover t e wick v en Ther snuer bar 14: is pivotally mounted between the webs 12, 12, being journalled on a pivot pin 15 supported at its ends in holes remote from the wick standard (Figure 4:). Forming the fulcrum of the snuffer bar is a lateral extension or arm 16, projecting down-y wardly into the cavity at the top of the casing just forwardly of the operating lever button 14?), said `arm 16 having a centrally located hole 16a through which the pivot pin 15 extends (Figure 8). Mounted directly below the pivotal axis of the snud'er bar is a spring plunger 17, held within a tubular well 18 secured in the top wall 10 of the lighter casing and backed by a coil spring 19, forcing the same upwardly and into contact with the lower ed e of the arm y16 on a line passing through the 4 fulcrum of the snuder bar. The portion o the edge of the,v arm'having sliding contact with the tip of the plunger VJforms a cam de-v 5 0 on the snuer bar in such a way as to iniuence the action of the same, as will presently be described in greater detail.

Also forming an integral part of the snuiier bar 14 is a gear sector 20 consisting face oit the arm 16, with its toothed edge or gear segment extending beyond the edge of the arm in the general direction of the free end of the snuder bar, and havin operative 5 'connectionwith a train of gear w eels interposed between the snuer bar and the triction wheel. i f Referring now tovthis intermediate gearing, the same comprises parts as follows: A 55 pivot pin 21 is supported at its ends 'in holes 15a, 15a drilled in said webs near their ends signed to direct the pressure of the plunger Y of a at plate-like member riveted to one neogeo? 21a, 21a in the webs 12, 12 (Figure 4), and on-the bearing portion thereof are j'ournalled two gear wheels 22 and 23. The smaller gear v wheel 22, which may be also designated as the driven gear, lies in the plane of, and meshes with the gear sector 20 of thesnuiier bar.

- consisting of two discs 24 and 25 having complementary` sets of clutch teeth 24a and 25a facing in opposite directions, each of the discs being integrally connected, as by welding, to the opposing faces of the gear wheels 22 and 23 respectively. Between the driven gear 22 and the adjacent web 12 is a space occupied by the helical spring 26 which surrounds the bearingpin 21 and acts to exert a lateral pressureon said driven gear, tending to force the clutch discs together into contact with each other. The clutch teeth 24a and 25a (Figure 7 are preferably formed by cutting radial slits in the periphery of each disc and upsetting the portion on one side of each slit to form circumferentially facing teeth. Thus, the clutchteeth facing in the opposite directions cause the two gear wheels to rotate together when the driven gear 22 is rotated in one direction, namely, counter-clockwise (Figure 2) along the gear sector 16 as the snuii'er bar rotates in a clockwisedirection on its fulcrum in the act of igniting the lighter. hand, when the driven gear 22 is rotated in the opposite (clockwise) direction, the clutch teeth merely ride 'over each other and the driving gear 23 is not turned, this action occurring when the snuier bar is closed. It will be noted that the clutching action is accompanied by a slight shifting of the driven gear 22 to and from the drivinggear 231 the shifting movement being added 1n one direction and opposed in the other by the pressure of the spring 26. llt has been found, however, that only a very slight pressure isnecessary to insure a positive action, in fact, it has been satisfactorily demonstrated that the spring 26 may be omitted entirely without having any apparent edect on the action. J

llihe driving gear 23 which, as has been noted, is of' slightlysgreater diameter than the 4driven gear 22, meshes with a pinion 27 integral with and located on one side of the. friction wheel 8, the two turning loosely on a bearing pin 28, supported at its ends 1n holes 28a, 28a inthe webs 12, 12.. As before stated, the friction wheel Sis positioned just yes On the other rac ias

rearwardly of the wick standard and above y the end of the tube' 6 with the pyrophoric element 7 bearing. against its periphery.. A

lac

spacing collar 29 is mounted on the pin 28 on the side of the friction wheel opposite said pinion 27, thus preventing endwise shifting of the friction wheel unit.

. As will be seen by comparing the positions of the snuffer bar in Figures 2 and' 9, its movement or throw `is confined to an arc of approximately 60, its upward movement'being limited by the contact between the head 14?) and a bevelled or inclined face 1b at the adjacent end of the-top of the lighter casing. Thus, on pressing down upon the operating end ofthe snuil'er bar, the lifting of the same is accompanied by the rotation of the friction wheel bythe power transmitted from the gear sector 16-through the gear and clutch assembly on the intermediate shaft 21, and finallyk to the gear 27 carried by friction wheel 8.

These gear, wheels thus form a gear train of increasing ratio, with the result that the angular displacement of the friction wheel is considerably greater than that of the snuii'er bar. In other words, assuming that the snuler baris swung through an angle of 60 when pressed to operate the igniting mechanism, the friction wheel is simultaneously ro` tated through a considerably greater arc and at a somewhat increased s eed. In this man-- ner a more positive ignition'is insured since 'y a. greater part of the circumference of the wheel passes over vthe pyrophoric element with a resulting greater volume of sparks i being projected toward the wick end.

The manifest purpose of the clutch is to interrupt the drivel from the snuifer bar to the friction wheel 4while the former is being closed, and for two reasons, first, to revent unnecessary wear of the yrophoric e ement, and second, to remove t e resistance of the friction wheel to the closing of the snufier bar.

cam plate just to the left of a point 16a formed by two sectors of the edge of the ex- The movement ofthe snuier bar from ,closed to open position (in the act of igniting the wick) and from open to closed po-` sition (in the act of extinguishing the flame) passes through three separate stages. Referring to Figure 2 in which the snuer bar is in closed position, it will be noted'that the end of the spring plungerA 17 bears on the tension or cam plate 16 meeting substantially at right angles, and located ]ust.to the right of the vertical line passing through the iucrum point or center ofthe pin 15. Thus the pressure of the spring plunger is exerted in a direction to hold the cap end of the snufferbar to its' seat overthe wick end. Now, it also follows that this pressure also resists 'the nger pressure exerted at the operating lend of the bar to open the same, this resist- .ance being maintained until the finger pressure overcomes the counter spring pressure,

and the iatter suddenly releases the tip 16a:

of the cam, and the bar quickly opens to its elevated position shown in Figure 9 as the top of the plunger slides over a short curved l accompanying increase in the pressure excrted bythe spring plunger. The cam face 1Gb terminates lat its right end (Figure 9) in a flat face 160 against which the end of the plunger 17 bears when the snuer bar reaches its fully raised position, it being noted that the point of contact of the plunger with the flat face 160` being practically in vertical alignment with the center of the pivot pin 15, with the result that the snuii'er bar will remain in raised position without the pressure ofthe finger to hold it. And finally, to close .the snuiier bar it is only necessary to shift the bar until the plunger clears the flat face 166, whereupon the spring action becomes effective to snap the bar to closed lposition with a quick-motion. Thus it will e seen that the bar is actuated to ignitethe wick by linger pressure momentarily resisted -by the s ring'plunger to insure a rapid and dependale igniting stroke; that the bar remains in open position so that the lighter can be passed from one person to another,

and finally the bar is snapped closed by has the appearance shown in Figure 4, with the two webs 12, 12 drilled to receive the three bearing pins .supporting the several parts of the igniting mechanism. To complete the assembly of the lighter after the ignition mechanism has been mountedin place, a thin false plate orcover 30 (Figure 6) is fitted over the top of the casing and covers the exposed portion of the cavity. This plate 6 conforms exactly to the top of the casing and has a short marginalpflange 30a entirely around its edge, so that when the plate is seated the marginal flange extends lover the edges and forms a` beading, as clear- .ly shown in Figure 1. Portions of the plate are cut away to provide a circular opening 305 atone end for wick standard 3, and alarger elongated' opening 30o shaped to fit around the webs 12, 12, while the end of the plate beyond the opening 30e is beveled and rounded to fit over the beveled top edges of the casing just below the head 14?) of the snuifer bar. The plate 30 is stamped from thin sheet met-al, and in the stamping process the plate is given a slight upward bow or convexity from 'end to end, which is apparent in Figure 6. The reason for this will be presently explained.

Having vapplied the plate 30 over the top end of the casing, the last operation of assembly is to attach the left and right side plates 13, 13 to the webs 12, 12 (Figure 5). These side plates conform generally to the shape of the webs, but are flanged along their top and end edges so that when placed flatwise against their respective webs, the flanges .extend inwardly towardv each other, leaving only a slot between for the snu'er bar and an opening at the front to permit the sparks from the pyrophoric element to reach the wick. vIn applying the side plates, their lower edges abut against the marginal portions 'of the cover plate 30 and are securely fasjtened to the web s by screws 31, 31, which are anchored in lsmall tapped holes 31a drilled in said webs (Figure 4). Due to the sli ht uupward bowing of the plate 30, it follows t at lin order to bring the screw holes in the side plates and webs into register, the latter must be forced downwardly with suilicient force to straighten or flatten out the cover plate 30, with the result that when the side plates are once fastened in place the resiliency of the plate 30, tending to resume its normal convexity, exerts an upward force against the side plates sucient to hold the screws tightly in place, thus preventing them from working loose and eventually dropping out.

Figure l presents the lighter in its completed form and accentuates the trim and workman-like appearance characterized by.

the marked absence from view of the moving parts of the igniting mechanism which, with incase? mechanism mounted between said webs, a

cover plate ttin over the end of said casing, and a pair o side plates secured to the outer faces of said webs and bearing at their lower edges upon said cover plate, the latter being initially bowed whereby upon the application of said side plates the same is placed under tension for the purpose described.

2. 1n a lighter, the combination of a casing having a depressed end wall forming a recess, a pair'of parallel webs integral with said end wall and extending beyond the end of said casing, a wick standard projecting through said end wall,'i ition mechanism mounted between said we s, a flanged cover plate itting over the end of said casing and covering the depression and sideplates fastened against said webs by screws and bearing at their lower edges against said cover plate, the latter being initially bowed from end to end and adapted to be straightened by the pressure of said side plates to thereby apply sucient tension thereon to prevent the loosening of said Signed at Chicago, illinois, this 25th day the exception of the snuder bar, are com letely enclosed and therefore hidden withintlfo small housing at the upper end of the casing. Being thus hidden, these parts are necessarily protected against accumulationsvof dirt and dust, insuring longl and dependable service.

Considered as a mechanical structure, the ignition Vmechanism of the lighter provides a compact and smoothly functioning unit capable of rotating the friction wheel at the speed to promote positive ignition with the least physical eort. Moreover, the transmission of power from the snuder bar to the frictionwheelthrou h an intermediate set of gears, makes it possi le to obtain the desired gear ratios and yet maintain all parts within a relatively small compass. In this connection, also, the location of the clutch and parv 55' ticularly the clutch spring in the intermediate gear assembly, removes the spring from proximity to the llame `of the ignited wick,

l thus preventing it from becoming annealed with the possibility of failure and consequent frequent replacement.

Having disclosed a preferred embodiment of our invention, we claim:

1. ln a lighter,-the combination of a casing having a wick standard extending beyond one end thereof, a pair of parallel webs projecting from said end lof the casing, ignition 

